I'm trying bend up some new outer rockers out of 16 guage for my '47 dodge and I'm having a bit of a problem making a tight bend. I have my fingers twice the thickness of the metal instructions I read on the net. I have the angle iron off of my apron to allow the shorter bend, but the initial bends are not tight enough to really get it down to 1/2 inch. basically I have loose radius adding up. WHo has some tips or tricks. Do I need to use 18 guage? not need some help. Here's a drawing of what I'm trying the bend. and heres a pic of the brake I have. I think the adjustments are fairly standard.
16 gauge sounds a bit thick for the rocker you are trying to do. what gauge is the old rocker? i'm guessing 18
Are you trying to over bend the bends sometimes with thicker metels that helps. Altho most of my experiance is with aluminum dut with that brake you should be able to get it. Good luck
They are 18 gauge. I was gonna use 16 since I have a sheeet of it for my floors and I figured stronger is better. i'm now thinking that the thinner easier to bend is the way to go.
Play with a short 12'' wide section to figure out your bend sequence.........looks like it can be made one piece....depends on on a few things w/ your benders throat clearance on the back side...you could use the brake and a steel shop table edge w/ the part clamped for some of the other bends......if not it can be made in two parts if need be.........good luck and have fun....Littleman
I may need to do it in 2 pieces. I did a 4" wide piece to get the end sequence. I just having a little trouble getting the crisp bends with the 48" piece. I know the brake will normally not bend quite as tight in the iddle due to the fact that there is less pressure once you get towwards the middle. I'll keep playing around. Do you think I could get tighter bends with 18 gauge?
I too used 18 gauge for the door seals/rockers on the wagon,,,I think the bends will be a little tighter,,,HRP
so you have set your brake up with a piece of metal clamped in the fingers? and you set the fingers back two material thicknesses?
Yeah, I'm wondering the same thing. If you want sharper bends, move the fingers back less. A long piece of 16 gauge might be too much for your bender on a tight bend. It'll probably work better with 18 gauge. They probably tell you to move it two thicknesses back so that you'll make bends with more of a radius and be less likely to crack the metal (and less likely to break the bender). Like on some types of aluminum, if you bend it too sharp, it just cracks up at the bend. So for those types of metal you have to make a more gentle bend to keep it from cracking. You should just play around with some skinny strips until you get it worked out. Even a strip only 1/2" wide is good enough to figure out where to adjust the fingers, as long as you make all the adjustments equal at both ends of the machine.
Everyone. Thanks for the replies. I have done test bends and they bend up nice and tight. With the larger shet I am getting good tight bends t the ends but they loose sharpness towards the center.
To help with tightening up the bend in the middle you can put tape, a piece of thin metal 24 gage, in top of the apron bar. You will have to play with your set up a little to figure out how thick and how long the piece needs to be. 18 gagae will work better for you and you can get a tighter bend.
Damn I love this place. That is cool. I wish I had a press brake like that. That is that same bend sequence I did except your first bend was my second to last bend. The bend you are doing 4th is the one that is messing me up. I'm gonna get some 18 gauge and if that a zing. I can run a tighter bend and the thinner metal will have a shallower and thinner radius. That should get me much closer.
I have the same bender and have the exact same problem. 18 ga. is easier to use but the only solution I have found is to use shorter lengths. Lots of extra work.
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